Kakadu may be Australia's ancient wilderness,
but that hasn't kept the government of the land down under from adapting
the park to more modern uses. Especially when those uses could yield
millions upon millions of dollars.

Jabiluka,
an uranium ore body located within the park and on the land of an aboriginal
tribe, is at the heart of an international controversy pitting the forces
of capitalism against the proponents of conservation. Energy Resources
of Australia Ltd. (ERA), a company backed by the nation's government,
is building an uranium mine at Jabiluka even as international environmental
organizations strive to stop construction.

Australia contains nearly a third of
the world's uranium reserves, but commands only 10 percent of the global
market. However, with new mines like Jabiluka planned, the nation hopes
its uranium exports will reach 26 percent of the world total by 2002.

According a 1998 report of the World
Heritage Committee (WHC), an international conservation body that declared
Kakadu a World Heritage site in the early 1980s, the Jabiluka mine threatened
dangerous environmental damage. The World Heritage designation singles
out Kakadu for special care due to its outstanding natural and cultural
values.

The Mirrar, the aboriginal people who
occupy the land that contains Jabiluka, also were adamantly against
the mine. Two aboriginal leaders, Yvonne Margarula and Jacqui Katona,
were extremely persuasive internationally in their opposition -- so
much so that earlier this year, both were awarded a prestigious environmentalism
prize, the Goldman, for their efforts.

To deal with what it considered a potentially
devastating situation for the park, the WHC requested from Australian
authorities "a detailed report on their efforts to prevent further
damage and to mitigate all the threats to the World Heritage
cultural and natural values of Kakadu National Park, Australia."
The WHC asked that the report, which was to be delivered on April 15,
1999, "address these threats posed by the construction of the Jabiluka
mine, by the mining of uranium ore at Jabiluka, and the alternatives
for milling the ore at Jabiluka."

In
accordance with the WHC, Australia presented a report about Jabiluka
on April 15. And as one might have expected, the debate concerning the
mine was anything but settled.

Australia's report went so far as to
suggest that WHC plans to declare Kakadu an "in danger" area
due to the mine were completely unfounded. While the government admitted
that it would adopt new safety measures to complement those already
in place, it felt that there was no reason to stop work on the Jabiluka
mine.

The report earned quick and outspoken
criticism from the Mirrar clan and the WHC. The Mirrar felt that the
Australian brief contained "misinformation, blatant omissions and
outright untruths." In particular, the Mirrar dispute the contention
that Margarula had consented to the mine's construction in 1991.

The government spent approximately $1
million on the report and supplementary public relations work aimed
at swaying international opinion into Australia's corner.

What laid ahead for Jabiluka and Kakadu?
The bells tolled in Paris on July 12, 1999, where at a special "extraordinary
meeting," the WHC heard the arguments of the Mirrar clan and ERA,
and issued its response. And after reviewing all the evidence, the WHC
opted not to declare Kakadu "in-danger."

However, the WHC did establish an 18-month
stay on mining, during which time ERA has to prove how Jabiluka can
proceed without damaging Mirrar cultural values. While both the Mirrar
and government felt the WHC proceedings were constructive, both groups
still remain at odds.

ERA was pleased with the WHC decision
-- the company's stock rose sharply after the announcement -- but did
not hesitate to point out the toll the Jabiluka controversy has taken.
The mine, which was supposed to begin production in 2001, will not open
until at least 2006, the company reports.

In spite of the WHC ruling, many international
environmental organizations will continue to lobby against the Jabiluka
mine.